1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disk cartridge for accommodating an optical disk that is an information recording/reproducing medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a disk cartridge is intended to accommodate an optical disk that is an information recording/reproducing medium, and is to be loaded in a disk drive. An example of a conventional disk cartridge is shown in FIG. 1.
Referring to FIG. 1, in a disk cartridge 101, an upper case 111 and a lower case 112 are assembled into a main body 106. An optical disk 105 which is an information recording/reproducing medium is accommodated in an inner space formed by assembling the upper case 111 and the lower case 112. An opening portion 115 and an opening hole 117 are formed at the main body 106 to expose the optical disk 105 to the outside. The opening portion 115 is a space through which a reading/recording device (not shown) obtains access to the optical disk 105, and the opening hole 117 is a portion into which a spindle motor (not shown) to rotate the optical disk 105 is inserted when the disk cartridge 101 is inserted into a disk drive (not shown).
A shutter 120 is installed at the main body 106 to be able to slide so that the opening portion 115 and the opening hole 117 can be exposed to or hidden from the outside.
When the disk cartridge 101 is inserted into the disk drive, the shutter 120 is slid in a direction perpendicular to the insertion direction of the disk cartridge 101 and is opened, and the opening portion 115 and the opening hole 117 are opened. After the disk cartridge 101 is completely inserted into the disk drive, the spindle motor obtains access to the opening hole 117, and the optical disk 105 is seated on the spindle motor. In addition, the reading/recording device obtains access to the opening portion 115, and while moving in a radial direction of the optical disk 105, the reading/recording device records information onto the optical disk 105, or reads information recorded on the optical disk 105.
The reading/recording device which records information onto the optical disk, or reads information recorded on the optical disk may be an slider carriage type one or a swing arm type one.
Since, in the slider carriage type device, the optical pickup performs recording/reading of information while moving linearly in a radial direction of the optical disk, the opening hole may have a narrow width, but must have a sufficient length in the radial direction so that the optical pickup may obtain access to the optical disk and may move linearly.
On the other hand, since, in the swing arm type device, a swing arm obtains access to the optical disk and performs recording/reading of information while pivoting on a predetermined pivot along an arc, the opening hole must be formed so that the swing arm can obtain access to the optical disk not only in a radial direction but also in a width direction.
That is, the opening hole of the swing arm type device must be formed to have an area greater than that of the opening hole of the slider carriage type device.
In recent years, while apparatuses and devices have become diverse as various technologies are developed, compatibility of one device with various apparatuses becomes important. Therefore, an optical disk needs compatibility so that the optical disk may be reproduced using various optical pickups.
However, since the conventional disk cartridge shown in FIG. 1 is configured so that only the slider carriage type optical pickup may obtain access to the optical disk to perform reproducing/recording of information, there is a problem in which the swing arm type optical pickup cannot perform reproducing/recording of information from/onto the optical disk, and therefore the disk cartridge is not compatible with the swing arm type optical pickup.